Freedom Air was modeled after United States company Southwest Airlines, the idea being of providing affordable jet service without the perks that most airlines would offer (such as frequent flyer miles, inflight movies, and complimentary meals). It began operations in 1996 with a single Boeing 757.
By 2003, Freedom Air's fleet had expanded to four Boeing 737-300 aircraft providing direct non-stop services to the Australian cities Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sydney, and Melbourne from their base in Hamilton as well as Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, and Palmerston North.
Freedom briefly served on the New Zealand main trunk domestic routes such as Auckland-Christchurch, but ceased these services to concentrate fully on providing value Trans-Tasman flights.